15 Greatest NFL Draft Steals of All-Time
By Daniel Tran
13. Terrell Davis
In terms of long shots, there weren’t too many players that had longer odds than Terrell Davis. Playing at Long Beach State then having an injury prone stint at Georgia did not do him any favors in the eyes of NFL scouts and his draft position suffered for it.
In the 1995 NFL Draft, Davis fell all the way to the sixth round before the Denver Broncos scooped him up with the 196th pick. When he entered training camp, new head coach Mike Shanahan had him as the sixth running back on the depth chart. The chances of Davis making the team were slim.
Like many players before him, Davis made himself known on special teams during the preseason, where he steadily improved and was named the starting running back when the season began.
In Shanahan’s zone blocking scheme, Davis exploited openings and had four straight 1000-yard seasons. In 1997, Davis overtook John Elway as the most important Bronco on offense, and was a huge contributor to two straight Super Bowl seasons for the Broncos. In 1998, he led the NFL with 2,008 yards, and 21 touchdowns for the season.
Unfortunately, the life of the NFL running back can quickly take a turn for the worse as he tore his ACL in 1999 and was never able to recapture the same form. For those first four years though, Davis was about as unstoppable in the rushing attack as anyone was in history.
Next: Marques Colston